


Three's The Number

by camichats



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Established James/Sirius, Fluff, Footballer James, Getting Together, M/M, Mechanic Sirius, Polyamory, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Teacher Remus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-24 13:32:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13214793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camichats/pseuds/camichats
Summary: Remus either has three soulmates or two, and the shape of the soulmark is either his fault or all of theirs (he REALLY hopes it's all of theirs).





	Three's The Number

**Author's Note:**

> For an anon who wanted wolfstarbucks soulmates

Most people didn’t have a set of three different kinds of animal tracks for a soulmark. Most people had something easy like words that described them and their soulmate, or a feature of their soulmate or summat.

But oh no, Remus _had_ to be different. Two of the tracks were canine but not quite the same, and the other was a goddamn goat. If he had three soulmates who all worked at a zoo, he was going to walk right out. He’d come back of course, but he was one hundred percent never in the mood to deal with that-- he’d get some distance then ask why the fuck they did this to him.

If it turned out that he only had two soulmates and he was responsible for one of those animal tracks, he could blame his parents for naming him Remus. _See Pete? I have back-up plans_.

Remus sighed, annoyed with himself. He was only in this bad of a mood because two of his students were soulmates, and they found out right in the middle of class while introducing themselves to work on a group project. Also because his car was being a little shite and needed to be taken into the shop today, only Peter was busy, so he was going to have to sit there the entire time they fixed it. He had papers to grade that, while not difficult, required space, and Remus couldn’t exactly camp out in this mechanic’s shop-- not to mention that he would probably get some sort of black sticky substance on the papers if he tried.

He pulled into Black’s Auto Shop and tried not to wimp out. He was a goddamn thirty year old that still didn’t know how to do adult things, which was automatically concerning any time he had to do something new. Plus he’d never been here before, and even though Peter assured him it would be fine, he still worried.

The mechanic that came out to greet him was unfairly fit, gorgeous from his long black hair that was tied back to that heart-stopping grin to his skilled hands that were undoubtedly good for more than working on an engine. There was also a ring on his finger.

Remus swallowed back his disappointment even though he’d never _really_ thought he had a chance. A bloke that gorgeous had to be taken, but it was different to fantasize about someone if they were married-- more wrong, less morally dubious.

“How can I help you?”

“Er- my car-- I mean, obviously it’s my car that’s what you _do_ , but- I don’t know what the hell is wrong with it and Pete- he--” Remus finally stopped himself, covering his flaming face with his hands and wishing he would just disappear, preferably immediately in a puff of smoke.

“Oh you’re Peter’s friend!” the man said, not sounding like he was judging Remus.

He nodded miserably, not lowering his hands.

“Remus, right? He’s had a lot of good things to say about you, you know.”

Remus lowered his hands just enough to glare at him. “Peter would have good things to say about an elephant that trampled him.”

The man threw his head back and laughed, and Remus tried to ignore the way it disarmed him, but his hands dropped anyways, the traitors. “All the same, it’s nice to meet you,” he said, walking forward so they weren’t on opposite sides of the room.

“I don’t know your name, actually.”

His grin widened. “Sirius.”

“Well, nice to meet you I suppose, Sirius.”

“You suppose?” Sirius asked, looking amused and holding out his hand with the confidence only someone who had already met their soulmate could have.

“It’s--” Remus broke off with a gasp as their hands touched and electricity zinged through him. He jerked his hand back and sandwiched it between his side and his arm to get rid of the lingering feeling of Sirius’s hand in his. He cleared his throat uncomfortably and stumbled back a step, but Sirius reached out and grabbed him to stop him from going further.

“Running away?” he asked mildly.

“I’m not a fan of becoming a homewrecker,” Remus said. “Besides, if Peter told you anything, it’s that I run away from shite like this.”

Surprisingly, Sirius rolled his eyes and dropped his hand because it looked like Remus wasn’t going to try and leave now that he’d said something. “You’re not a homewrecker.”

“Er, mate? You’re married.”

“Yeah, to a bloke that’s also my soulmate, and probably yours too.” Sirius slid off his soulmark cover from his arm and tilted it towards Remus-- three sets of very familiar tracks. “You have the same mark, yeah?”

Remus cleared his throat, nodded.

“So does James. James is my husband, by the way. See? No reason to panic. I’ll give him a ring, he’ll come down here, I’ll work on your car while we wait for him to show, and we can sort this all out. Okay?”

“O...kay,” Remus said, but it lilted at the end like he wasn’t sure.

Sirius pulled his sleeve back on, but winked at Remus while he did so. He pulled his phone from his pocket and was calling up this James bloke. Remus really really hoped he was going to be as okay with the situation as Sirius claimed.

The volume was up high enough that Remus could hear when he answered. “ _Please tell me you’re ringing to save me from this practice. I have done nothing to deserve this treatment from Coach, I’m sure of it._ ”

“You’re in luck! I am calling to save you.”

“ _Thank god. Give me half an excuse for Coach._ ”

“Excuse you, I have an actual reason this time. You remember that other soulmate we’ve got?”

Silence. “ _You’re shitting me_.”

“Nope. Get your pretty arse to the shop to meet him. He’s real cute, just your type.” Sirius winked at him again, and-- to Remus’s surprise-- it didn’t seem to be a meaningless compliment.

James laughed on the other side. “ _I’ll be there as soon as I can. Tell him I love him?_ ”

Sirius rolled his eyes. “No, he’s freaked out enough as it is. You can wait a couple months like a normal person.”

Remus had never met him, but he could sense his pout through the phone. He wondered if Sirius knew he could hear James’s side of the conversation. Probably not, based on the way he had carefully worded his last response.

“ _Fine. Spoilsport. Love you._ ”

“Love you too. Bye.” He ended the call and slid his phone back in his pocket. “He’ll be here soon. Why don’t you tell me what’s going on with your car so I can set about fixing it.”

Remus tried his best to describe what was happening, and he hoped he wasn’t annoying Sirius with his complete lack of knowledge. Sirius didn’t _appear_ to be bothered, and Remus slowly began to relax, only to tense up when someone else arrived.

“Hey Si!” he called, walking towards them with a broad smile on his face.

Remus guessed it was James, a guess that was confirmed a moment later when he put an arm around Sirius’s waist, kissed his cheek, and positively beamed at Remus. “Hullo! I’m James.” He held his hand out.

Remus blinked and shifted uncomfortably, holding himself tighter even though all he wanted in the moment was to reach out and touch him.

James dropped his hand, smile fading to something softer. “You alright there?”

Remus cleared his throat. “Yeah, ‘m fine. Just- er.”

“Overwhelmed?” Sirius offered.

He nodded. “Sorry.”

James just shook his head and that damn glorious smile of his started growing again. “It’s okay. I can’t imagine what it’s like to meet both your soulmates at the same time. Why don’t we have dinner tonight? We can talk, see if we can’t get you more comfortable.”

“Yeah that… that sounds great,” Remus said, giving them a small smile.

“So, can I get your name? I can keep calling you ‘Gorgeous’ in my head if you want, but I’m not sure how long that would last.”

“Oh.” Remus laughed a little, having completely forgotten that James didn’t know. “Remus.”

James blinked at him, then looked at Sirius, then looked back to him. “I blame both of you for our marks, I hope you know. For once, I am innocent.”

Sirius snorted. “Hey, at least it’s not just my fault.”

Similarly, Remus was happy it wasn’t _his_ fault, though he did wonder what it was about James that made him a goat. He mentally shrugged, figuring that if it didn’t come up at dinner, he could ask later.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on tumblr [@siriuslystarbucks](http://siriuslystarbucks.tumblr.com/)


End file.
